Hi everybody. To those of you in the USA, I wish to send my condolences for the tornadoes you've been having. Unusual for this time of year, I think. This brought me on to thinking about the weather and climate in general. We have been hearing about dreadful storms all over the world recently. There was Katrina and Sandy in the USA, Hyan., however it's spelt, in the Philipines, not to mention our own little 'hurricane' in the UK. There have also been floods in Sardinia and many other places, like Bangladesh. I apologise if you have had some of this dreadful stuff and haven't got a mention.

It got me to wondering why the various governments of the world seem to be unwilling to do anything about climate change, because this is what this is. The experts have warned us that there will be an increase in these kind of storms, and flooding in various places, not to mention droughts in others, unless we do something to stop it. What is more important--economics or the future of the world? Maybe even the future existence of humanity!

Or is the world trying to rid itself of the species that has done so much damage to it? (Gaia theorists) or maybe God is punishing us (religious folk) for the wanton damage we've done to our world. This is our home. The only one we have. We are a long way from being able to 'move house', if that will ever be possible. So we should try to do what little we can. Each of us. Our governments won't do anything worthwhile.

So WALK whenever possible instead of driving.
Close curtains whenever it is cold outside and getting dark. This will save heating.
Don't turn up your heating if you feel cool, put on another jumper. (Or even the first one.) We cannot expect to wear t-shirts in winter the same as in summer!
Turn your heating down a couple of degrees. You'll barely notice it. (Especially if you've put on that jumper!)
Make sure your house is well-insulated. Loft, double glazing, cavity wall insulation, carpets on floors. A lot of heat is lost through uncarpeted floors!
Turn lights off when you are not in the room.
Use energy saving light bulbs.
Use a cheaper energy source for cooking. A halogen oven will cook food with much less electricity than a conventional oven. You can even cook meals in your microwave.

When I was growing up, we didn't have central heating. We had a coal fire in the living room, but nothing elsewhere. I've got up with ice on the INSIDE of the window, and got dressed in bed as it was so cold in the bedroom. I wouldn't like to go back to those days, but I think we expect too much and are burning far too much of our precious resources and ruining the planet to boot.